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Joseph Smith's Monogamy Joseph Smith’s Monogamy: Exploring a Counter­narrative Regarding Plural Marriage Was Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of various Mormon sects, a monogamist? Such an idea is incredible to virtually every person familiar with the practice of plural marriage in the Mormon religion. The prevailing narrative regarding this topic takes for granted that Joseph was the originator of the plural marriage doctrine in Mormonism. Truly, there is a significant amount of evidence to bolster this view. One could easily cite accusations made during Joseph’s life as well as those that followed after his martyrdom to build a significant case that he was a polygamist. However, there are compelling counter arguments to be considered. Accepting that Joseph was a polygamist requires a person to wrestle with significant inconsistencies with that narrative, such as Joseph’s numerous and consistent denials, the lack of offspring from polygamous unions during his life, a lack of reliable contemporary evidence, contradictory testimony from his accusers, and modified historical records. Joseph’s conduct in investigating, identifying, disciplining, and condemning the adulterous relationships in Nauvoo makes more sense if his polygamy denials are accepted as truthful. His two­year­long quest using the Nauvoo High Council to ferret out sexual promiscuity, discipline those involved, and correct their misbehavior makes more sense if he was not a secret polygamist. No matter what a person ultimately decides about plural marriage, it requires many assumptions. There isn’t ever likely to be enough compelling evidence to definitively prove whether Joseph was or wasn’t a polygamist. However, by the end of this paper, the reader may be better equipped to make an informed assumption. The Problem of Paternity ­­ Joseph Smith “I had not been married scarcely five minutes, and made one proclamation of the Gospel, before it was reported that I had seven wives.” —Joseph Smith (LDS History of the Church 6:411, 26 May 1844) ​ ​ Verifiable children fathered by Joseph Smith are linked to one woman, Emma Smith, Joseph’s first and potentially only wife. There have been many claims to the contrary but no claim has ever been validated by DNA. Joseph is alleged to have had more than 30 wives over a period of 11 years1. As such, it seems unlikely that not a single descendant could be proven from one of these other unions. Joseph conceived 9 children with Emma. His first alleged plural 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Joseph_Smith%27s_wives ​ wife was Fanny Alger, who bore 9 children with another man. She, like Joseph, was clearly capable of producing offspring. Yet their alleged union, in the prime of their reproductive years, produced no offspring. The question “why” needs to be answered, or at least considered. In 1879, Joseph F. Smith conceded the point that there were no children from these unions: When asked on November 1, 1879, “Why did Joseph Smith the Prophet have no [polygamous] children?” Joseph F. Smith responded: “Because it would have been against him and the law of the state against bigamy. The children would have been proven to be his or the mothers would have been condemned for illicit intercourse, polygamous marriages not being considered legitimate marriages.”2 Admittedly, not everyone can or has been DNA tested. Some potential candidates died as infants and cannot be tested. However, every known test has come back negative or inconclusive. One recent effort disproved Joseph’s paternity for 5 potential descendants.3 Consider also that the common justification in Mormon theology is that plural marriage is to "raise up seed" according to Jacob 2 (which most observers interpret as a reference to increasing the birth rate).4 In that construct it’s hard to imagine Joseph failing in such a significant way. The lack of children from other women makes more sense if Joseph was a monogamist. If it’s true that Joseph only had children with Emma, it offers a stark contrast with the brand of plural marriage practiced by Brigham Young. Young’s polygamy resulted in marriages to 56 women. He fathered 57 children from 16 of those wives.5 Once again, the question of why there was such a significant disparity needs to be answered, or at least considered. As it stands, the only verifiable offspring of Joseph Smith came from his legal wife, Emma. The Problem of Paternity ­­ Brigham, Heber, et al As we have lately been credibly informed, that an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter­day Saints, by the name of Hiram Brown, has been preaching Polygamy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, in the county of Lapeer, state of Michigan. This is to notify him and the Church in general, that he has been cut off from the church, for his iniquity; and he is further notified to appear at the Special Conference, on the 6th of April next, to make answer to these charges. —Joseph Smith & Hyrum Smith, Times and Seasons 5 [February 1, 1844]: 423 2 Brian C. Hales, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Volume 3 p 375 ​ ​ 3 http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700150651/DNA­solves­a­Joseph­Smith­mystery.html?pg=all ​ 4 e.g. http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_polygamy/Purpose_of_plural_marriage ​ 5 http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/pioneers_and_cowboys/thewivesofbrighamyoung.html ​ The lack of children attributed to Joseph is damaging to the argument that Joseph was a polygamist. Similarly damaging is the lack of children born to most of the people who claim to have practiced polygamy during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. According to an analysis by George D. Smith, there were a total of 42 alleged plural marriage unions involving 25 men (excluding Joseph Smith’s alleged activity) while Joseph was alive.6 There were 5 such unions in 1842, 21 in 1843, and 14 more before Joseph’s death in June 1844. One would expect that during this time there would have been a rash of children born from these unions. However, an analysis by Gary Bergera states that there were only four children potentially born from polygamous relationships prior to Joseph’s death:7 ● Lucina Cahoon (about 1843) ● Adelmon/Adelbert Kimball (1842) ● Adelbert Daniel Clayton (2/18/1844) ● George Noble (2/2/1844) Further investigation of these births reveals that the actual number of children is even smaller. In the case of Lucina Cahoon, there is scant evidence that this child ever existed. The only evidence is a record from a descendant of Reynolds Cahoon, the alleged father, in a family history published in 1960.8 The only information provided is the name of the child, a birthdate of “about 1843, probably Nauvoo”. Given the uncertainty of the birth date or even location, and the source being nearly 120 years after the fact, this birth is questionable at best. A discerning observer would not likely rely on this as proof of a child born from a polygamous union during Joseph’s lifetime. The data for the next child, Adelmon or Adelbert Kimball, is conflicted, but Adelmon was born about Oct 1842 and died Apr 1843. He was born to Sarah Peak, the first alleged plural wife to Heber C Kimball. Before Sarah married Heber, she was married to William Noon. William and Sarah moved to Nauvoo from England in 1841, but for unknown reasons, William abandoned his family and returned to England. William and Sarah are shown in various sources to have had three children. Their final child was named Adelmon, born in 1842, and died Apr 1843.9 In other sources Sarah Peak is shown to have given birth to a child named Adelbert with her new husband, Heber C Kimball. This child is also shown to have been born in Oct 1842 and died in Apr 1843. However, it’s not possible for Sarah to have delivered two children who were born and died at the same time and fathered by two different men. The conclusion, then, is that 6 Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841­46: A Preliminary Demographic Report, p 30 ​ ​ ​ 7 Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamists, 1841­44, p. 50 ​ ​ 8 https://archive.org/stream/reynoldscahoonhi00shur#page/84/mode/2up/search/lucina ​ 9 http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sarah_Peak_(1811­1873) ​ it’s the same child (as some family histories show).10 Adelmon was either the son of William Noon and later claimed by Kimball to be his; or, Adelmon was Kimball’s son but was easily explained as the last child conceived with William Noon before William abandoned his family. Regardless, in the theory that Joseph Smith was a monogamist, this child would not have raised eyebrows in Nauvoo as he would have easily been attributed to William Noon. As such, this child is not valid proof that plural marriage was being practiced with Joseph’s consent. The third child, Adelbert Daniel Clayton, is a somewhat similar story to that of Adelbert Kimball. The fact they share a first name seems an interesting coincidence. The birth of the Clayton child is supported by some historical evidence. There is an entry in William Clayton’s journal on Feb 18, 1844 referencing the birth of a child to Margaret Moon, Clayton’s first plural wife.11 Little Adelbert passed away six months later. While this is a compelling case of a child born from plural marriage before the death of Joseph, there are problems with Clayton’s journal that call into question the validity of the narrative surrounding his relationship with Margaret Moon. These problems are discussed in greater detail later in this paper. Regardless, a reasonable observer could conclude that this child was indeed born from a polygamous relationship during Joseph’s lifetime.
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